Video game with bounded region capture and ownership value swap

Abstract

A control program for a game device having a storage unit configured to store points associated with players. The game device may receive a request by a player to designate at least a portion of the points associated with the first player as region points of the first player, which may in turn be correlated with a game region designated by the first player. When the first player has the most points for a particular game region, the game region may be set to be a region of the first player. When the first player disposes a first and second game region in a predetermined arrangement, such that the first and second game region has game regions between them, the game regions between the first and second game region may have their point values swapped to put the first player on top.

What is claimed is: 
     
       1. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium comprising program code that, when executed, causes a game device including a storage unit to execute steps comprising progressing a game, the game comprising a game field including a plurality of game regions, wherein progressing a game comprises executing steps of:
 storing, in the storage unit, a plurality of sets of points, each of the plurality of sets of points respectively associated with one of a plurality of players; 
 displaying, on a display unit, the game field on a graphical user interface, the graphical user interface comprising a plurality of selectable regions corresponding to the plurality of game regions, and further comprising a point selection display; 
 receiving, from a first player in the plurality of players, on an input unit, an input comprising a request of the first player, the input corresponding to a designated game region in the plurality of game regions, and further comprising a point value to be correlated with the designated game region, the point value comprising one or more owned points of the player; 
 in accordance with the request of the first player, correlating, with a correlation unit, the point value with the designated game region designated by the first player among the plurality of game regions, the point value being correlated with said designated game region as region points of the first player; and 
 determining whether a value of the region points of the first player that are correlated with the designated game region is larger than a value of region points of at least one player different from the first player that are correlated with the designated game region, and, when the region points of the first player have a greater value than the region points of the at least one player different from the first player, maintaining a value of the region points of the at least one player different from the first player, and setting the designated game region to be a region of the first player. 
 
     
     
       2. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium according to  claim 1 , wherein the game device is further configured to perform steps of:
 associating a point consumption value with at least one region in the plurality of selectable regions; and 
 deducting, with the correlation unit, the point consumption value from the one or more owned points of the player upon the designation of the at least one region in the plurality of selectable regions as the designated game region. 
 
     
     
       3. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium according to  claim 1 , wherein the game device is further configured to perform steps of:
 identifying the designated game region newly set as a region of the first player as a first game region; 
 identifying a region previously set to be a region of the first player, prior to the step of setting the designated game region to be a region of the first player, as a second game region; 
 identifying whether the first region and the second region are disposed in a predetermined arrangement, and, when the first region and second region are disposed in the predetermined arrangement, identifying one or more game regions between the first region and the second region in the predetermined arrangement; and 
 when all of the one or more game regions disposed between the first game region and the second game region in the predetermined arrangement are regions of the at least one player different from the first player, for each game region in the one or more game regions disposed between the first game region and the second game region in the predetermined arrangement, performing steps of: 
 extracting a region point value of the first player and a region point value of the at least one player different from the first player, 
 correlating the extracted region point value of the at least one player different from the first player as a region point value of the first player, and 
 setting the game region to be a region of the first player. 
 
     
     
       4. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium according to  claim 3 , wherein the predetermined arrangement is selected from the set of: a straight line, a polygonal line, and a curved line. 
     
     
       5. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium according to  claim 1 , further comprising:
 determining an order of progression of the plurality of players playing the game; 
 traversing the order of progression and receiving an input comprising a request of a second of the plurality of players playing the game; and 
 ending the game and resolving a winner of the game based on at least one of the set of: a number of region points of the winner and a number of owned regions of the winner. 
 
     
     
       6. The non-transitory computer-readable medium according to  claim 5 , wherein the order of progression of the plurality of players comprises a predetermined time interval specifically associated with each player in the plurality of players, and wherein the step of traversing the order of progression from the first player to the second player is triggered after the predetermined time interval specifically associated with the first player is exhausted. 
     
     
       7. The non-transitory computer-readable medium according to  claim 6 , wherein the predetermined time interval of the first player is different from the predetermined time interval of the second player. 
     
     
       8. The non-transitory computer-readable medium according to  claim 6 , wherein the predetermined time interval of a player is adjusted based on the region point value of the player. 
     
     
       9. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium according to  claim 1 ,
 wherein the game field includes a restricted region, and wherein the game is configured to prevent designation of the restricted region by a player in an initial state; and 
 wherein the game device is further configured to perform a step of changing the restricted region to a game region, the step of changing the restricted region to the game region depending on the number of times at least a portion of the set of points associated with the first player have been correlated as region points of the first player, according to one or more requests of the first player. 
 
     
     
       10. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium according to  claim 1 , wherein the game device is further configured to perform steps of:
 specifying color information associated with the first player in the region of the first player, 
 changing at least one of brightness, chroma, or hue of the specified color information, based on at least one of the region point of the first player and the region point of another player which is correlated with the region of the first player, and 
 displaying the region of the first player with the changed color information. 
 
     
     
       11. A control method which is configured to be executed by a game device which includes a storage unit and which is configured to progress a game by using a game field including a plurality of game regions, the method comprising:
 storing, in the storage unit, a plurality of sets of points, each of the plurality of sets of points respectively associated with one of a plurality of players; 
 displaying, on a display unit, the game field on a graphical user interface, the graphical user interface comprising a plurality of selectable regions corresponding to the plurality of game regions, and further comprising a point selection display; 
 receiving, from a first player in the plurality of players, on an input unit, an input comprising a request of the first player, the input corresponding to a designated game region in the plurality of game regions, and further comprising a point value to be correlated with the designated game region, the point value comprising one or more owned points of the player; 
 in accordance with the request of the first player, correlating, with a correlation unit, the point value with the designated game region designated by the first player among the plurality of game regions, the point value being correlated with said designated game region as region points of the first player; and 
 determining whether a value of the region points of the first player that are correlated with the designated game region is larger than a value of region points of at least one player different from the first player that are correlated with the designated game region, and, when the region points of the first player have a greater value than the region points of the at least one player different from the first player, maintaining a value of the region points of the at least one player different from the first player, and setting the designated game region to be a region of the first player. 
 
     
     
       12. The method of  claim 11 , further comprising:
 associating a point consumption value with at least one region in the plurality of selectable regions; and 
 deducting, with the correlation unit, the point consumption value from the one or more owned points of the player upon the designation of the at least one region in the plurality of selectable regions as the designated game region. 
 
     
     
       13. The method of  claim 11 , further comprising:
 identifying the designated game region newly set as a region of the first player as a first game region; 
 identifying a region previously set to be a region of the first player, prior to the step of setting the designated game region to be a region of the first player, as a second game region; 
 identifying whether the first region and the second region are disposed in a predetermined arrangement, and, when the first region and second region are disposed in the predetermined arrangement, identifying one or more game regions between the first region and the second region in the predetermined arrangement; and 
 when all of the one or more game regions disposed between the first game region and the second game region in the predetermined arrangement are regions of the at least one player different from the first player, for each game region in the one or more game regions disposed between the first game region and the second game region in the predetermined arrangement, performing steps of: 
 extracting a region point value of the first player and a region point value of the at least one player different from the first player, 
 correlating the extracted region point value of the at least one player different from the first player as a region point value of the first player, and 
 setting the game region to be a region of the first player. 
 
     
     
       14. The method of  claim 11 , further comprising:
 determining an order of progression of the plurality of players playing the game; 
 traversing the order of progression and receiving an input comprising a request of a second of the plurality of players playing the game; and 
 ending the game and resolving a winner of the game based on at least one of the set of: a number of region points of the winner and a number of owned regions of the winner. 
 
     
     
       15. The method of  claim 11 , wherein the game field includes a restricted region, and wherein the game is configured to prevent designation of the restricted region by a player in an initial state; and
 further comprising a step of changing the restricted region to a game region, the step of changing the restricted region to the game region depending on the number of times at least a portion of the set of points associated with the first player have been correlated as region points of the first player, according to one or more requests of the first player. 
 
     
     
       16. A game device which is configured to progress a game by using a game field including a plurality of game regions, the device comprising an input device and a CPU, and further comprising:
 a storage unit configured to store a plurality of sets of points, each of the plurality of sets of points respectively associated with one of a plurality of players; 
 a display unit configured to display the game field on a graphical user interface, the graphical user interface comprising a plurality of selectable regions corresponding to the plurality of game regions, and further comprising a point selection display; 
 the input device configured to receive input from a first player in the plurality of players, said input comprising a request of a first player, said input corresponding to a designated game region in the plurality of game regions, and further comprising a point value to be correlated with the designated game region, the point value comprising one or more owned points of the player; 
 a correlation unit configured to correlate, in accordance with the request of the first player, the point value with the designated game region designated by the first player among the plurality of game regions, the point value being correlated with said designated game region as region points of the first player; and 
 a setting unit configured to determine whether a value of the region points of the first player that are correlated with the designated game region is larger than a value of region points of at least one player different from the first player that are correlated with the designated game region, the setting unit further being configured to, when the region points of the first player have a greater value than the region points of the at least one player different from the first player, maintain a value of the region points of the at least one player different from the first player and set the designated game region to be a region of the first player. 
 
     
     
       17. The game device of  claim 16 , wherein the game device is further configured to:
 associate a point consumption value with at least one region in the plurality of selectable regions; and 
 deduct, with the correlation unit, the point consumption value from the one or more owned points of the player upon the designation of the at least one region in the plurality of selectable regions as the designated game region. 
 
     
     
       18. The game device of  claim 16 , wherein the game device is further configured to:
 identify the designated game region newly set as a region of the first player as a first game region; 
 identify a region previously set to be a region of the first player, prior to the step of setting the designated game region to be a region of the first player, as a second game region; 
 identify whether the first region and the second region are disposed in a predetermined arrangement, and, when the first region and second region are disposed in the predetermined arrangement, identify one or more game regions between the first region and the second region in the predetermined arrangement; and 
 when all of the one or more game regions disposed between the first game region and the second game region in the predetermined arrangement are regions of the at least one player different from the first player, for each game region in the one or more game regions disposed between the first game region and the second game region in the predetermined arrangement, perform steps of: 
 extracting a region point value of the first player and a region point value of the at least one player different from the first player, 
 correlating the extracted region point value of the at least one player different from the first player as a region point value of the first player, and 
 setting the game region to be a region of the first player. 
 
     
     
       19. The game device of  claim 16 , wherein the game device is further configured to:
 determine an order of progression of the plurality of players playing the game; 
 traverse the order of progression and receiving an input comprising a request of a second of the plurality of players playing the game; and 
 end the game and resolving a winner of the game based on at least one of the set of: a number of region points of the winner and a number of owned regions of the winner. 
 
     
     
       20. The game device of  claim 16 , wherein the game field includes a restricted region, and wherein the game is configured to prevent designation of the restricted region by a player in an initial state; and
 wherein the game device is further configured to execute a step of changing the restricted region to a game region, the step of changing the restricted region to the game region depending on the number of times at least a portion of the set of points associated with the first player have been correlated as region points of the first player, according to one or more requests of the first player.